Andrew Slack: Wallabies will need huge improvement to make impact in Rugby World Cup
The Wallabies got the job done against Fiji, but similar mistakes and lack of cohesion against the tournament’s heavyweights will cost them dearly, writes Andrew Slack.
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The Wallabies can breathe out and it’s Wales’s turn to be just a little bit nervous.
Australia’s 39-21 win over Fiji in their opening World Cup game on Saturday virtually assured them of a place in the knock out stage of the tournament.
The big question then is whether Michael Hooper’s team has the capacity to win three successive matches against opponents who are more used to the eighty minute intensity required at this level than the Fijians are. If they can’t, there’ll be no World Cup glory for them, and on the evidence provided in the first half you couldn’t be brim full of confidence.
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Nerves can manifest themselves through both lethargy and sloppiness, so with both those characteristics in full show, let us hope it was merely opening night jitters which produced such a below par effort up until the hour mark. The Wallabies were error strewn in all facets in the opening exchanges of both halves and against more ruthless teams, they’ll find themselves in situations from which there will be no coming back.
Credit to Fiji. They are skilful, physical and tackle other Fijians like no other team on earth. Consequently, three of the Wallabies biggest attacking threats, Isi Naisarani, Marika Koroibete and Samu Kerevi, (each one a product of Fiji), were nullified until the Pacific Islanders just ran out of gas from midway through the second half.
I sense Naisarani, Koroibete and Kerevi will all do more damage against the more highly favoured nations, as long as their teammates perform the basics more effectively than was the case in Saturday’s game.
While the likes of Michael Hooper, Tolu Latu and Will Genia played to the level required of a team with their eyes on the ultimate prize, there remain crucial puzzles to be solved. Kurtley Beale is one of our biggest threats and yet he was next to invisible against Fiji, while the dilemma as to who should wear the number 10 jersey is no closer to being solved. Christian Lealiifano didn’t do enough to demand selection against Wales and nor did Matt Toomua when he got his chance.
For all his 2015 heroics, the third option Bernard Foley, hasn’t done enough in 2019 to deserve selection.
Would Michael Cheika, at this late stage, consider taking the punt and giving James O’Connor or Reece Hodge a go in the playmaker role? Yes, I doubt it too.
Despite their slowish start yesterday, there seems to be enough grunt and skill in the forward pack to provide an adequate platform, but it is the backline that still needs refining.
The problem is that there is so little time left for refinement.
Our best team will be required against Wales next Sunday and then it is a three week gap between that match and the quarterfinals. In the interim are gimme games against Uruguay and Georgia where the dilemma will be about rest versus risk.
I believe the most effective strategy is that the best team plays Wales and Georgia and the others get a run against Uruguay. The issue is that I really have no clue as to who our best team is, and I’m not convinced the selectors do either. Who’s knocking the door down to get a chance? The answer to that is nobody.
It’s a bit of a worry.
Originally published as Andrew Slack: Wallabies will need huge improvement to make impact in Rugby World Cup
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